Patient support apparatuses, such as hospital beds, stretchers, cots, tables, wheelchairs, and chairs facilitate care of patients in a health care setting. Conventional patient support apparatuses comprise a base and a patient support surface upon which the patient is supported. Often, these patient support apparatuses have one or more powered devices to perform one or more functions on the patient support apparatus. These functions can include lifting or lowering the patient support surface, extending or shortening a length of the patient support apparatus, extending or narrowing a width of the patient support apparatus, raising or lowering one or more deck sections, and the like. When a caregiver wishes to perform such a function, the caregiver actuates a user input device on a user interface, often in the form of a button on a control panel. Conventional user interfaces include separate modules (e.g., touchscreen displays) attached to one or more side rails, a headboard, and/or a footboard of the patient support apparatus and are generally difficult to clean due to the nature of the materials employed and seams/joints that are formed around the user interface. This can be particularly problematic as caregivers, patients, and other users are constantly touching the user interface to control the functions of the patient support apparatus. As a result, the user interface is especially susceptible to contamination by bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms, which can lead to the spread of infections.
Additionally, the caregiver's attention is often required to first visually select an appropriate one out of multiple buttons on the user interface and then carefully actuate the appropriate button, usually while maintaining eye contact (i.e., line-of-sight) with the selected button. This can distract the caregiver's attention away from more meaningful tasks, such as watching or tending to the needs of the patient. In certain cases, the user interface also provides a display or other visual elements to display information to the caregiver, such as information that indicates to the caregiver current states of the patient support apparatus, e.g., a current height of the patient support surface, a current fowler angle, etc. While this information can be useful, it can further distract the caregiver from watching or tending to the needs of the patient.
A patient support apparatus designed to address one or more of the aforementioned challenges is desired.